Britain's Bourse

Watercolour from the 19th century by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd, after an old drawing.

Britain's Bourse, also known as the New Exchange, was a shopping arcade located on the Strand, London opened by James I in 1609.[1][2][3] It was demolished in 1737.[4]

History

Inigo Jones submitted a design, but these were not used. It was built by Sir Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury. Building commenced on 10 June 1608. The site had previously been occupied by the stables of Durham House, now 52 to 64 Strand.[5]

The building was briefly known as the Salisbury Exchange, but was renamed when James I opened the building on 11 April 1609.[2] He was accompanied by his queen, Anne of Denmark, his son, later Charles I of England and daughter Elizabeth, later Queen of Bohemia.[6] The opening included a theatrical production by Ben Jonson, The Entertainment at Britain's Burse.[7]

It primarily catered for women providing not only fashionable clothes and millinery, but also ornaments and items of furniture. However it also included several bookshops.[4] Along with the Royal Exchange it provided one of the major shopping centres in London, particularly after the Fire of London.[4]

Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany visited the premises during his visit to England in 1669 and described the building:

"The building has a facade of stone, built after the Gothic style, which has lost its colour from age and become blackish. It contains two long and double galleries, one above the other, in which are distributed in several rows great numbers of very rich shops of drapers and mercers filled with goods of every kind, and with manufactures of the most beautiful description. These are for the most part under the care of well-dressed women, who are busily employed in work, although many are served by young men called apprentices."[4]

References

  1. ^ Weale, John (1854). Pictorial Handbook of London: Comprising Its Antiquities, Architecture, Arts, Manufacture, Trade, Social, Literary, and Scientific Institutions, Exhibitions, and Galleries of Art : Together with Some Account of the Principal Suburbs and Most Attractive Localities. London: H.G. Bohn. pp. 366-377 [1].
  2. ^ a b Boehm, Wholelotof (6 January 2018). "Britain's Bourse". Backwards Through a Tudor Telescope. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  3. ^ Higgins, S. 2017. Britain’s Bourse: cultural and literary exchanges between England and the Low Countries in the early modern era (c. 1580-1620). PhD Thesis, University College Cork.
  4. ^ a b c d "The Royal Exchange and the New Exchange". instruct.uwo.ca. Western Technology Services. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  5. ^ Prockter, Adrian (18 January 2016). "Exchange Court, Strand". Know Your London. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  6. ^ Percy, Sholto (1822). "Fashion". T. Boys. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  7. ^ The Entertainment at Britain’s Burse, Cambridge Edition of Ben Jonson

51°30′34.57″N 0°7′22.55″W / 51.5096028°N 0.1229306°W / 51.5096028; -0.1229306


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